During World War One, HM Government commissioned a Factory, designed by the Enfield Armanent Company, to be built on open fields along Burton Road in Branston as the National Machine Gun Factory. The Factory was started to be built by local builder Thomas Lowe & Sons in 1915 but not fully finished before the First World War ended in 1918. Not a single machine gun was actually produced there.

The site remains intact today with many of the original buildings still standing. It has existed in a number of roles, most famously, for its production of Branston Pickle, named after the factory location.